Rikers Island Report Finds Excessive Force By Officers

QUEENS — A Rikers Island status report found that officers continued to show excessive force in New York City jails, with serious injuries tripling since 2016, according to a document released on Monday.

Overseers of Rikers Island and the Correction department found increased brutality and exposed the “problematic actions” occurring to city jail detainees, according to a 30-page report by Federal Monitor Steve J. Martin.

“Multiple individuals were subject to painful escort holds,” the report reads. “One individual started experiencing severe seizures and was left unattended for a substantial period of time before he was escorted for medical attention.”

The document by the monitor also details how detainees were subject to dangerous chokeholds, head strikes, and delays in medical attention.

“This is emblematic of the types of incidents that continue to alarm the Monitoring Team, but, that to date, have not received meaningful action from the Department,” reads the report.

The Legal Aid Society was quick to respond to the report, expressing that “staying the current course will only harm more and more people condemned to the indefensibly unsafe and inhumane conditions of the City’s jails.”

The response comes just a few days before the commissioner of the Department of Correction, Louis Molina, and prosecutors meet at a hearing to address the “humanitarian crisis” in NYC jails.

Advocates have asked Judge Laura Taylor Swain to appoint a receiver to run city jails to address the issues at Rikers exacerbated by the pandemic. In November, the judge granted Molina more time to implement his plan of action in the facility.

All sides will return to court in April for another round of review.